Jim Pekol

Last updated

James Brian Pekol (born May 4, 1961) is an American musician originally from Wausau, Wisconsin.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point with a degree in Bachelor of Music Education with an emphasis in saxophone. He then taught Grade 5-8 instrumental music for 19 years in the Wisconsin public schools. He started playing in the Wausau Concert Band in 1979, and has been the conductor since 2005. He also performs vocally and instrumentally in numerous professional and community groups.

A published composer and arranger, Pekol has written for many diverse types of groups, including band and orchestra, as well as arrangements for Jazz, Dixieland, and dance bands.

While growing up in Wausau, he was educated in the Wausau School system and began his performing career as a piano player with the "Swingin' Scots", a middle school Dixieland band under the direction of John Muir Middle School band director Raymond "Bud" Rozelle. While in high school he began playing clarinet, sax, trumpet, accordion, and piano in some of the local polka/dance bands, including the "Greiner Brothers Orchestra" (1976-1984) and the "Jerry Goetsch Orchestra" (1985-1992).

In 1979 Pekol formed his own Slovenian-style polka band in which he played the on accordion, with John Greiner on piano and later Denis Burgess on drums and Marilyn Baer on banjo. This band was known for its Slovenian beat, variety of music and well-blended vocal harmonies. The band appeared in a Trucktoberfest TV commercial for Brickner Motors of Wausau, performed as the house band at the Telemark Ski Lodge in Cable, WI, and performed with "America's Polka King" Frank Yankovic from 1986 to 1996. [1]

Pekol and his wife Marilyn have two sons, Brian and Bob. Brian is also a professional musician in Minneapolis.

Related Research Articles

Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Sturr</span> American musician

James W. Sturr Jr. is an American polka musician, trumpeter, clarinetist, saxophonist and leader of Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra. His recordings have won 18 out of the 24 Grammy Awards given for Best Polka Album. Sturr's orchestra is on the Top Ten List of the All-Time Grammy Awards, and has acquired more Grammy nominations than anyone in the history of musical polka awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Yankovic</span> Slovenian-American musician

Frank John Yankovic was an American accordion player and polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King", Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during his long career. He was not related to fellow accordionist and song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, although the two collaborated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Original Dixieland Jass Band</span> American jazz band

The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Welk</span> American bandleader and TV impresario (1903–1992)

Lawrence Welk was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, television, and live-performance audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big band</span> Music ensemble associated with jazz music

A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accompaniment</span> Part of a musical composition

Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of music. In homophonic music, the main accompaniment approach used in popular music, a clear vocal melody is supported by subordinate chords. In popular music and traditional music, the accompaniment parts typically provide the "beat" for the music and outline the chord progression of the song or instrumental piece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of immigrant communities in the United States</span>

The vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. This article will focus on the music of these communities and discuss its roots in countries across Africa, Europe and Asia, excluding only Native American music, indigenous and immigrant Latinos, Puerto Rican music, Hawaiian music and African American music. The music of Irish- and Scottish-Americans will be a special focus, due to their extreme influence on Appalachian folk music and other genres. These sorts of music are often sustained and promoted by a variety of ethnic organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myron Floren</span> American accordionist (1919–2005)

Myron Floren was an American musician best known as the accordionist on The Lawrence Welk Show between 1950 and 1980. Floren came to prominence primarily from his regular appearances on the weekly television series in which Lawrence Welk dubbed him as "the happy Norwegian," which was also attributed to Peter Friello.

Slovenian-style polka is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer Barrel Polka</span> Popular song during World War II

"Beer Barrel Polka", originally in Czech "Škoda lásky", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II as a drinking song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Serry Sr.</span> American concert accordionist, arranger, and composer

John Serry Sr. was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice of America's cultural diplomacy initiatives during the Golden Age of Radio. He also concertized on the accordion as a member of several orchestras and jazz ensembles for nearly forty years between the 1930s and 1960s.

Those Darn Accordions, commonly abbreviated as TDA, are an American accordion band from San Francisco, California, originally formed in 1989 by Linda "Big Lou" Seekins.

Polka is a music and dance style that originated in Europe in the 1830s and came to American society when people immigrated from Eastern Europe. A fast style in 2/4 time, and often associated with the pre–World War II era, polka remains a dynamic "niche" music in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Brusky</span>

Tom Brusky is a Slovenian-style polka musician and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who also produces and records music through his company, Polkasound Productions. Brusky has appeared on over sixty recordings worldwide along with artists such as Verne and Steve Meisner, Eric Noltkamper, Kathy Zamejc Vogt, Jeff Winard, and Frankie Yankovic. He performs roughly 150 events a year throughout Southeastern Wisconsin and abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Bashell</span> American polka musician (1914–2008)

Louis Bashell was an American polka musician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was known for playing the Slovenian-style polka. He was nicknamed "Milwaukee's polka king".

Roman 'Romy' Louis Gosz was a popular and commercially successful polka musician in the upper Midwest. Gosz's music featured the Bohemian brass style and appealed to the many ethnic groups found throughout the region.

Don Peachey is an American band leader, accordionist, musician and recording artist who has been performing and recording since the 1950s with The Don Peachey Band, aka Don Peachey and His Orchestra. Peachey was elected to the International Polka Hall of Fame in 2011 by the International Polka Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Chesky</span> Musical artist

Larry Chesky, born Lawrence J. Ciszewski, was an American accordion player, Polka band leader, inductee in the International Polka Hall of Fame, and manager of the Rex Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Tolentino</span> Musical artist

Matt Tolentino is a musician and bandleader specializing in the live performance and preservation of pre-swing music, with a focus on American popular songs from 1895 to 1935. Originally from Dallas, Texas, he is the leader of The Matt Tolentino Band, The New Liberty Dance Orchestra, The Royal Klobasneks polka band and The Singapore Slingers, which have been named the "Best Pre-Swing Jazz Orchestra" and the "coolest, quirkiest, retro jazz group" in Dallas, and have garnered national attention for their authenticity, including arrangements, instruments, drums, microphones, and attire of the period.

References

  1. Karla Wotruba (13 October 2012). "Strike up the band! Jim Pekol's musical journey". The Northwoods River News